When going abroad, sometimes we have to introduce ourselves. It’s pretty common to tell people where we come from after telling our names, and sometimes it takes me sooo much time to explain and clarify when people asked me the following questions！
1. You are Chinese, why don’t you tell people you are from China?
Identity. Undoubtedly, most of our ancestors are Chinese, and politically and officially speaking, Hong Kong returned to China. So if you insist I should tell you I am from China instead of Hong Kong, I will be kinda speechless. But, do you know that we have our own government, currency, law, education system and even our own team in the Olympic Games. When there are so much difference in education background and culture, if you insist, I may feel you are so ignorant in the bottom of my heart. And seriously, will an American-born-Chinese tell people he’s from China?
Maybe the impacts of Bruce Lee and Jacky Chan are too influential, or maybe some people heard that Korean kids will learn Taekwondo and thought Asians kids will do the same. So I will usually tell my foreign new friends that ‘yes, we all learn it since we were really young! Do you believe I can kill you with only one finger?’
You are right! I HAVE FACEBOOK! There are actually 4 million Facebook accounts from Hong Kong, it’s 75% of all the internet users.
5. You are so picky when it comes to food, aren’t you guys eat everything?
In Hong Kong, the meat that we mainly eat are pork, beef, chicken, fish and seafood. Please don’t misunderstand that we love eating all kinds of weird animals!
If you have some other suggestions or comments, please share! (:
Recently I relocate to Germany and start working there. One of the first things I have to solve after I arrive is to find a long term accommodation.
Living abroad, either you rent a studio or you share an apartment with the others. I personally like to live with some others! Firstly it’s more economical, secondly, I can sometimes hang out with my flatmates or we can spend time cooking together!
You can find 7 sites to look for accommodation below, I hope it may help you! (In Germany, it’s common that the flat is unfurnished when you move in, so you may have to spend some money on furniture!)
1. 最大最主要的flatshare網站，亦有翻譯功能，唔識德文都唔驚！(係德國,flatshare簡稱WG) The biggest and most common site for flatshare, they got translation function for the description for the flat, so no worries if you don’t speak German at all! (In Germany, people call flatshare WG)
“Go to Paris to be in Paris, not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for being worldly.” from the video, a very inspiring video.
I think this was how I used to choose where to go: just to choose somewhere I never been to, maybe in the bottom of my heart, I just want to cross another country/city on my list. Now that I travel more, I see more, I start realizing crossing the list is cool, but it shouldn’t be the reason to travel. It’s nothing to proud of that you’ve been to 20 countries in 1 year, because when you think you are cool, there are someone else in the world travel to 30 countries in 1 year. What I mean is, you think you are cool? There are someone who is cooler out there. So now, when I want to travel, these are some reasons to determine my next destination.
1. Friends
Throughout the travel I had before, I met a lot of interesting people. I want to meet many of them again. So when I know we are close, that’s a motivation to see them again and visit the places they are at.
2. Cultural
Last Christmas, I was in Europe. I really would like to spend Christmas with an European family to experience the difference of celebrating Christmas in Europe and in Hong Kong. I also would like to go to the Tomato Festival in Spain, Oktoberfest in Germany…etc.
3. Place I never been
Instead of checking the list, I still would like to explore places I never been. But I would like to experience and enjoy the place rather than just for the sake of being there.
When I was living abroad, one of the ways to spare my time is to cook, and Tiramisu is one of my signature dishes! It’s a bit expensive to buy the ingredients in Hong Kong, but it’s still affordable to do it in western countries!
*tiramisu means ‘pick me up’ in Italian, it’s a really romantic dessert!
準備時間 preparation time : 1-1.5 hr
材料 ingredients (for around 6 people) :
咖啡 Espresso/ coffee
手指餅 Ladyfingers/pavesini
雞蛋 Egg x 6
Mascarpone 250 g
糖 Sugar 50-75g (depends on personal preference)
無糖可可粉 Unsweeten cocoa powder
amount of ingredients for this container!
工具 equipment :
電動打蛋器 electric mixer
大碗 mixing bowl x 2
長方形玻璃器皿 rectangular glass container
1. Prepare the espresso, cool it.
2. Separate egg yolk from egg white, put it in the two mixing bowls respectively.
3. Add sugar into the egg yolk, and mix it with the electric mixer. Add the mascarpone to the mixture and mix it.
4. Wash the mixer, and whip the egg white till soft peak.
5. Fold the egg white to the egg yolk and mascarpone mixture.
6. Dip each pavesini/ladyfinger quickly into the espresso, place them tidily at the bottom of the container, spread a layer of egg mixture on top. (Dip for 1 sec on each side if it’s pavesini, 2 sec on each side if it’s lady finger)
7. Repeat step 6 until the top of container, sprinkle cocoa powder.
8. Put in the fridge overnight, ready to serve!
the mess i created after preparing a tiramisu!
小小心得 little tips :
1. 煮優質的espresso! Make a nice espresso!
2. 在舖上每一層蛋槳後也灑上可可粉! Sprinkle cocoa powder after each layer of egg mixture!
3. 不要心急，放一個晚上才吃! Don’t hurry, make sure the tiramisu is put in the fridge for a night!
